Higher Usage = Negative Symptoms

The higher the use of social media, the more symptoms of anxiety and depression appear. That is just a fact. The United Kingdom performed a study that consisted of 101 participating schools, which included 3,501 participants. This was a two year longitudinal study that looked at the levels of anxiety, depression, and hyperactivity in teenagers. This was measured my using a test that consisted of 25 questions called "The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire". The findings concluded that the amount of time spent on social media directly related to the mental health of the individual. Due to teenagers already being at a vulnerable time in their lives, social media is seen to be a concerning factor, but not necessarily the leading determinant (Beeres et al., 2021).

Hormones and the Brain

The harmful side effects from social media can damage a person psychologically and physiologically. There are two main hormones that are affected, being cortisol and dopamine. The constant attempt to maintain a false reality online causes extreme stress in the lives of adolescent's. This is seen as a form of chronic stress, which ends up causing the hormone cortisol to be released and leaves the individual with not only depressive symptoms, but problems including damage to the gastrointestinal tact and increased likelihood of immuno-inflammatory responses (Amedie, 2015).

Risk vs. Reward

There are many risks people will take for the reward that is at the end. The usage of social media activates the brain's reward system by releasing the neurotransmitter known as dopamine. Social media creates the addiction and your body begins to treat it as a drug. When the outcome becomes unpredictable the brain will likely repeat that behavior (Sperling, 2022).